What is a healthy dinner?

When I was growing up we had the typical diner Blue Plate Special of "a
meat and two veg." This isn't too far from what makes sense for a
healthy dinner. We know that combining protein with carbs helps you
to feel satisfied for longer after a meal. One problem many people have
is that they don't know what to actually put on their plate.

Contributing to the problem is that serving sizes have become so large
in many restaurants. This has carried over into folk's dinner tables at
home, and so portions at home have gone from big to bigger to huge. So
when you're considering dinner ideas, think in terms of right-sizing your
meal.

Begin with the main course. By that I mean the fish, lean meat, shellfish,
chicken, turkey, lamb, etc. that you will have. The rule of thumb for a
single serving for an adult is 4 ounces by weight. When you are reading
recipes, keep this in mind, because many call for single serving sizes
of double or even triple this amount. With a 4 ounce serving coming in
at around 150 to 200 calories, it's easy to see how in today's world folks
can easily get too many calories.

For this reason I'm a believer in weighing ingredients, especially when
you are starting out at eating healthier. Knowing just what that 4 ounces
looks like is important and by weighing your food you'll learn exactly
what a portion should look like.

Once you've decided what you're having for the main course it's time
to think about the carbs. This is where it's best to think about that Blue
Plate Special as a meat, a starch and a veg. There are lots of choices
here and a serving generally works out to somewhere between 150 and 250
calories. Keep in mind that making the higher fiber choice will be the
best quality calories.

Great carb choices

Single Serving Size

Approximate Calories
(per serving)

whole wheat bread

2 slices

150

whole wheat pasta

2 ounces

175

potatoes

8 ounces

175

yams

6 ounces

160

brown rice

1/4 cup (raw)

170

wild rice

1/4 cup (raw)

140

white rice

1/4 cup (raw)

170

corn (Yes, corn is a starch, not a vegetable.)

1 cup kernels

135

couscous

1/4 cup (raw)

160

lentils

1/4 cup (raw)

170

beans

1/4 cup (raw)

155

Adding up what we have so far gets us to somewhere between 300 and 450
calories for the meal. That can be a bit of a wide mark, but for the most
part it'll balance out day in and day out.

So that leaves the veggies. Quite simply, eat what you want. Veggies
can be a bit all over the map, with some being as little as 25 calories
in 4 ounces up to as much as 100 calories. Altogether, this will add up
to between 325 and 550 calories for the whole meal (from the lowest combination
to the highest).

Note that this doesn't always have to be a meat, starch and a veggie
on your plate like you might get at the diner. Take a dinner meal
of Lentil Chili with a side salad, as a good example. There's plenty
of veggies in the chili and the lentils provide mostly starch but
some protein. The rest of the protein comes from the cheese and there's
even more veggies in the side salad.

Added up, the rule of thumb for a complete dinner meal should be about
500 calories. Some meals will be more and others less. When I'm working
on creating recipes I work to make them satisfying. Part of this
is finding the right balance in a particular meal – protein, high
quality carbs and fresh veggies. Eating great food is the key to your success,
after all.